When Archaeologist's Day is celebrated

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

People have been fond of searching for ancient objects for a long time, but only a few devote their lives to excavations. To draw attention to the importance of the profession, an official Archaeologist's Day was established, the date of which falls on August 15th. This holiday was established without reference to discoveries or events.

From history

Ancient finds have always interested people: already in the Ipatiev Chronicle, the fact of finding glass beads in Ladoga, on the banks of the Volkhov, was recorded. Official excavations were carried out in the 15th century in Pskov - they wanted to find the foundation of the Vlasiy Church, which was the oldest in the city.

In the 17th century, mounds, settlements, and places where the remains of ancient animals were found were discovered and documented. On Archaeologist's Day-2013, you can visit such places and feel the history.

In 1839, the Society of History and Antiquities appeared in Odessa, in 1946 - the Russian Archaeological Society in St. Petersburg. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Museum of Fine Arts was opened, the exposition of which included archaeologicalfinds of the ancient era.

Archaeology was recognized as a scientific discipline in 1922. At the same time, large-scale excavations began in Moscow and Novgorod the Great. Tourists love to visit these cities on Archaeologist's Day. Researchers of the Moscow subsoil confirmed that it was Prince Yuri Dolgoruky who founded the capital. And in Veliky Novgorod, they found the first birch bark document, which contained information about the life and traditions of our ancestors.

Now archaeological excavations are being carried out in many places in Russia. Researchers are trying to judge the life of ancient people by the objects found, since many official records of those years were purposefully destroyed during wars and changes in state leaders.

How Archaeologist's Day appeared

The appearance of the holiday is associated with several legends. One of them says that the subsurface explorers wanted to relax and suggested that the expedition leader solemnly celebrate the birthday of the horse of the great commander Alexander the Great - Bucephalus, which just fell on August 15th. The leader agreed, and the celebration began. Since that time, the tradition began to celebrate this date every year, but already as the Day of the Archaeologist.

The second version suggests that the celebration is connected with the birthday of the archaeologist T. S. Passek. The expedition under her leadership became a "forge of personnel", which is why the participants chose a symbolic date. And then the tradition spread to all cities of the country.

The holiday is also celebrated by Belarus, in 2008 the Day of the Archaeologist in Ukraine was approved. ATmeetings, conferences, seminars on the exchange of experience, initiations into archaeologists are held on a solemn date. Some people on this day like to visit museums with ancient exhibits and learn new historical facts.

We still don't know much from the past, and some finds pose riddles to humanity or even contradict generally accepted facts. Maybe our ancestors were smarter than us? Someday experts will find the answer to this question. Archeology will help them with this.